Method, communication system and device for controlling resource release

ABSTRACT

Method, apparatus and communication system for resource release controlling are provided in the disclosure. When a user equipment (UE) with an idle mode signaling reduction (ISR) being activated moves from a first source network to a second target network, if a first SGSN in the first source network knows that a second SGSN in the second target network does not support interaction with a serving gateway (S-GW) and does not support ISR, the first SGSN controls the deletion of bearer resources on a MME in the first network by sending a resource deletion message.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/779,655, filed on May 13, 2010, which is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2009/070159, filed on Jan.15, 2009. The International Patent Application claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 200810006802.8, filed on Jan. 31, 2008.The aforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

This application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 8,144,665, filed Jul. 13,2011, and issued Mar. 27, 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

The present application relates to the field of communication, and moreparticularly to a resource release control method, a communicationsystem, and a device.

BACKGROUND

A core network of a wireless evolution network, that is, a systemarchitecture evolution (SAE) includes three logic functions, namely, amobility management entity (MME), a serving gateway (S-GW), and a packetdata network gateway (P-GW).

The MME is responsible for non-access stadium (NAS) signalingencryption, roaming, and tracking, assignment of temporary subscriberidentities, security functions, and the like, and is corresponding to acontrol-plane part of a serving general packet radio service (GPRS)supporting node (SGSN) in a current universal mobile telecommunicationssystem (UMTS).

The S-GW is responsible for local mobility anchor points, internalmobility anchor points in a third generation partnership project (3GPP)system, as well as lawful interception of related information.

The P-GW is responsible for policy enforcement and charging, as well aslawful interception of related functions.

A home subscriber server (HSS) is adapted to store subscribersubscription information.

In order to reduce the signaling overhead, currently, an idle modesignaling reduction (ISR) solution is proposed. In the solution, a userequipment (UE) registers to two different access networks, and the HSSstores information of core network elements (NEs) of the two accesstechnologies.

Under the double registration mechanism, after an original-side MMEestablishes the ISR mechanism with the SGSN, if the UE moves to a newMME or SGSN, the UE will initiate a tracking area update (TAU) orrouting area update (RAU) process. If a target-side MME or SGSN does notsupport the ISR mechanism, the target-side MME or SGSN does not carry anISR activation indication in a bearer update request sent to the S-GW.After receiving the bearer update request, the S-GW deletes a bearercontext thereof and requests the original-side MME or SGSN to delete thebearer context.

However, in the technical solution, if a version property (for example,Pre-Rel-8 version) of the target-side MME or SGSN indicates that thetarget-side MME or SGSN does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism, when the UE moves to the coverage ofthe target-side MME or SGSN, as the target-side MME or SGSN cannotperform signaling interaction with the S-GW, it is impossible to controlthe S-GW to delete the bearer context of the original-side MME or SGSNaccording to the solution in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The embodiments below are directed to a resource release control method,a communication system, and a device, which are capable of deleting abearer of an original-side heterogeneous-system management NE even if atarget-side management NE does not support interaction with an S-GW anddoes not support an ISR mechanism.

An embodiment provides a resource release control method. When a UEactivating an ISR mechanism is handed over from an original-side networkto a target-side network, the method includes: acquiring versioninformation of a target-side management NE; and deleting a bearer of anoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE, if the versioninformation indicates that the target-side management NE does notinteract with an S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

Another embodiment provides a communication system, which includes anoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE and an original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE. The original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE is configured to acquire version information of atarget-side management NE when a UE activating an ISR mechanism ishanded over from an original-side network to a target-side network, andsend a delete bearer message if the version information indicates thatthe target-side management NE does not interact with an S-GW and doesnot support the ISR mechanism. The original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE is configured to receive the delete bearer message, anddelete a bearer thereof according to the delete bearer message.

Another embodiment provides a mobility management NE, which is connectedto a radio access network (RAN), and configured to manage a mobilitystate of a subscriber. The mobility management NE includes anacquisition unit, a determination unit, and a bearer deletion controlunit. The acquisition unit is configured to acquire version informationof a peer-end management NE. The determination unit is configured todetermine whether the version information of the peer-end management NEacquired by the acquisition unit indicates that the peer-end managementNE does not support interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISRmechanism. The bearer deletion control unit is configured to execute abearer deletion process if a determination result of the determinationunit is that the peer-end management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

Another embodiment provides a GW device, which is connected to an RANand a packet data network (PDN), and configured to bear subscriber datatransmission between the RAN and the PDN. The GW device includes areceiving unit and a deletion control unit. The receiving unit isconfigured to receive a delete bearer message sent from an original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE. The deletion control unit isconfigured to instruct an original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE to delete a bearer of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE according to the delete bearer message.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the embodimentshave the following advantages.

In the embodiments, after the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE is acquired, if it is determined that the versioninformation indicates that the target-side management NE does notinteract with the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism, thebearer of the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE isdeleted according to the version information. Therefore, the embodimentsenable deletion of the bearer of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE, even if the target-side management NE does not supportinteraction with the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a resource release control method according toa first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a second embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a third embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the resource release control method accordingto a seventh embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a communication system according to anembodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a mobility management NE according to anembodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a GW device according to an.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments below provide a resource release control method, acommunication system, and a device, which are adapted to delete a bearercontext of an original-side heterogeneous-system management NE even if atarget-side management NE does not support interaction with an S-GW anddoes not support an ISR mechanism.

The resource release control method according to an embodiment includes:

acquiring version information of a target-side management NE, when a UEactivating an ISR mechanism is handed over from an original-side networkto a target-side network; and

deleting a bearer of an original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE, if the version information indicates that the target-side managementNE does not interact with an S-GW and does not support the ISRmechanism.

In an embodiment, after the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE is acquired, if it is determined that the versioninformation indicates that the target-side management NE does notinteract with the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism, thebearer context of the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEis deleted according to the version information. It can be noted that,in subsequent embodiments, the deletion of the bearer of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE refers to the deletionof the bearer context of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE.

Therefore, the embodiment enables deletion of the bearer context of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE, even if thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE refers to an MME where a subscriberis originally located, an original-side homogeneous-system management NErefers to an SGSN establishing the ISR mechanism with the original-sideMME, and the target-side management NE refers to an SGSN where thesubscriber is located after moving.

It can be understood that, in practical applications, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE, and the target-side management NE may also be othersituations, for example, if the target-side management NE is an MME, theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE is an SGSN, and theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE is an MME.

For ease of understanding, the embodiments are described in detail belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, in theresource release control method according to a first embodiment, anoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE interacts with atarget-side management NE to acquire version information of thetarget-side management NE, then sends a delete bearer message to acorresponding original-side heterogeneous-system management NE accordingto address information of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE locally stored in the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE, so that the original-side heterogeneous system deletes abearer context thereof.

The resource release control method according to the first embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 101, a UE sends an RAU Request message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

When the UE moves to the coverage of another MME or SGSN, the UE sendsan RAU Request message carrying a packet temporary mobile subscriberidentity (P-TMSI) and a globally unique temporary identity (GUTI) to thetarget-side management NE, so as to request to register with thetarget-side management NE.

In step 102, the target-side management NE sends a Context Requestmessage to an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the RAU Request message sent from the UE, thetarget-side management NE sends the Context Request message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, so as to request contextinformation.

In this embodiment, before step 102, the target-side management NEperforms protocol version detection with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, so that the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires a General Packet Radio ServiceTunneling Protocol (GTP) version of the target-side management NE. Ifthe GTP version is an old version such as GTP V0 or GTP V1, theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE acquires that the versioninformation of the target-side management NE is a Pre-Rel-8 version,that is, the target-side management NE does not support interaction withan S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism. In this embodiment andsubsequent embodiments, the Pre-Rel-8 version is taken as an example fordescription; however, it can be understood that, in practicalapplications, the version information may also be other versions that donot support interaction with the S-GW and do not support the ISRmechanism.

The situation where the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE bydetecting the GTP information is introduced above. It can be understoodthat, the target-side management NE may also notify the versioninformation thereof to the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE through the Context Request message in step 102. In specificimplementations, a field adapted to indicate the version information ofthe target-side management NE is extended in the Context Requestmessage, or an identity adapted to indicate the version information isadded in an existing field, or other indication methods are used.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit information entity (IE). It can be understood that, thetarget-side management NE may also indicate the version informationthereof in an implicit manner. For example, if the target-sidemanagement NE does not carry a “version” field in a signaling sent tothe original-side homogeneous-system management NE or the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, or a value in the field is null, itindicates by default that the target-side management NE does not supportinteraction with the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 103, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aContext Response message to the target-side management NE, the contextresponse message includes the context information.

In step 104, the target-side management NE sends a Context Ack messageto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Context Request message in step 102, thetarget-side management NE may also send the version information thereofto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE through theContext Ack message in step 104, and the specific sending process isidentical to that using the Context Request message, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 105, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate a bearer context.

In step 106, other RAU-related processes are executed.

In step 107, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe S-GW to delete the bearer.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEsends a delete bearer message to the S-GW, in which the delete bearermessage instructs the S-GW to delete the bearer thereof. It can be notedthat, in this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the operation thatthe S-GW deletes the bearer thereof refers to that the S-GW deletes abearer context thereof and releases bearer resources.

After receiving the delete bearer message sent from the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW deletes the bearer contextthereof and releases the bearer resources.

In step 108, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE to delete a bearercontext.

In this embodiment, since the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE has acquired the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE from the target-side management NE through the GTPinformation, or the Context Request message in step 102, or the ContextAck message in step 104, the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE can notify the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE todelete the bearer context thereof.

In this embodiment, when the ISR mechanism is activated, theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE and the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE store information about each other,for example, control-plane information, in which the control-planeinformation includes address information of a peer end.

In this case, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE mayacquire the address information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE according to the pre-storedinformation, and send a delete bearer message to the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE according to the address information.A cause value for deleting the bearer being “the target-side managementNE does not support the ISR mechanism” may be carried in the deletebearer message.

It can be noted that, step 108 may be executed at an appropriate timeafter the Context Ack message sent from the target-side management NE isreceived, for example, when a timer times out, that is, a next processis not triggered in a preset period of time after the Context Ackmessage is received.

In step 109, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEdeletes a local bearer related to the UE.

After receiving the delete bearer message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the local bearer contextrelated to the UE.

In this embodiment, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEmay also notify the S-GW to delete the bearer. It can be noted that, theoperation that the S-GW deletes the bearer here has the same meaning asthe operation that the S-GW deletes the bearer in step 107, that is,also refers to that the S-GW deletes a bearer context thereof andreleases bearer resources.

Step 107 and step 109 may be implemented in combination, so as to deletethe bearer context of the S-GW, and completely release the relatedbearer resources. For example, bearer resources may be allocated betweenthe S-GW and the original-side homogeneous-system management NE, andlikewise, bearer resources may also be allocated between the S-GW andthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE. If the deletebearer request in step 107 only requests the S-GW to release the bearerresources between the S-GW and the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE, the original-side heterogeneous system can further notifythe S-GW to delete the bearer context and release the bearer resourcesbetween the S-GW and the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE in step 109. It can be understood that, if no bearer resources areallocated between the S-GW and the original-side heterogeneous system,and the S-GW has deleted the bearer context thereof and released thebearer resources between the S-GW and the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE according to the instruction in step107, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE may not notifythe S-GW to delete the bearer in step 109.

In step 110, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 111, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE sends the delete bearer message to the correspondingoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE according to thelocally stored address information, so that the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the bearer context thereof.It can be understood that, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE may also delete the bearer context of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE through the S-GW. Specifically,referring to FIG. 2, in the resource release control method according toa second embodiment, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE sends the delete bearer message to the S-GW, and then theS-GW controls the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE todelete the bearer context thereof.

The resource release control method according to the second embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 201, a UE sends an RAU Request message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

When the UE moves to the coverage of another MME or SGSN, the UE sendsan RAU Request message carrying a P-TMSI and a GUTI to the target-sidemanagement NE, so as to request to register with the target-sidemanagement NE.

In step 202, the target-side management NE sends a Context Requestmessage to an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the RAU Request message sent from the UE, thetarget-side management NE sends the Context Request message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, so as to request contextinformation.

In this embodiment, before step 202, the target-side management NEperforms protocol version detection with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, so that the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires a GTP version of thetarget-side management NE. If the GTP version is an old version such asGTP V0 or GTP V1, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires that the version information of the target-side management NEis a Pre-Rel-8 version, that is, the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism.In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the Pre-Rel-8 version istaken as an example for description; however, it can be understood that,in practical applications, the version information may also be otherversions that do not support interaction with the S-GW and do notsupport the ISR mechanism.

The situation where the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE bydetecting the GTP information is introduced above. It can be understoodthat, the target-side management NE may also notify the versioninformation thereof to the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE through the Context Request message in step 202. In specificimplementations, a field adapted to indicate the version information ofthe target-side management NE is extended in the Context Requestmessage, or an identity adapted to indicate the version information isadded in an existing field, or other indication methods are used.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit IE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NEmay also indicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner.For example, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 203, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aContext Response message to the target-side management NE, the ContextResponse message includes the context information.

In step 204, the target-side management NE sends a Context Ack messageto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Context Request message in step 202, thetarget-side management NE may also send the version information thereofto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE through theContext Ack message in step 204, and the specific sending process isidentical to that using the Context Request message, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 205, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate a bearer context.

In step 206, other RAU-related processes are executed.

In step 207, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe S-GW to delete the bearer.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEsends a delete bearer message to the S-GW, and the S-GW deletes a bearercontext thereof and releases bearer resources according to the deletebearer message.

In step 208, the S-GW notifies the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to delete a bearer context.

In this embodiment, since the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE has acquired the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE from the target-side management NE through the GTPinformation, or the Context Request message in step 202, or the ContextAck message in step 204, the delete bearer message sent from theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE to the S-GW in step 207not only instructs the S-GW to delete the bearer thereof, but alsoinstructs the S-GW to control the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to delete the bearer context thereof.

Since the S-GW stores control-plane information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW sends the delete bearermessage to the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEaccording to address information in the control-plane information, inwhich the delete bearer message is adapted to instruct the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE to delete the bearer context thereof.

After receiving the delete bearer message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the local bearer contextrelated to the UE.

In step 209, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 210, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, the delete bearer message sent from theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE to the S-GW requests bydefault the S-GW to control the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to delete the bearer context thereof. It can be understoodthat, in practical applications, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE may also notify the S-GW to control the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE to delete the bearer context thereofin an explicit manner. Particularly, referring to FIG. 3, in theresource release control method according to a third embodiment, afteracquiring the version information of the target-side management NE, theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE sends a delete bearermessage carrying a control IE to the S-GW, in which the control IE isadapted to instruct the S-GW to control the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE to delete the bearer context thereof.

The resource release control method according to the third embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 301, a UE sends an RAU Request message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

When the UE moves to the coverage of another MME or SGSN, the UE sendsan RAU Request message carrying a P-TMSI and a GUTI to the target-sidemanagement NE, so as to request to register with the target-sidemanagement NE.

In step 302, the target-side management NE sends a Context Requestmessage to an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the RAU Request message sent from the UE, thetarget-side management NE sends the Context Request message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, so as to request contextinformation.

In this embodiment, before step 302, the target-side management NEperforms protocol version detection with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, so that the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires a GTP version of thetarget-side management NE. If the GTP version is an old version such asGTP V0 or GTP V1, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires that the version information of the target-side management NEis a Pre-Rel-8 version, that is, the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism.In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the Pre-Rel-8 version istaken as an example for description; however, it can be understood that,in practical applications, the version information may also be otherversions that do not support interaction with the S-GW and do notsupport the ISR mechanism.

The situation where the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE bydetecting the GTP information is introduced above. It can be understoodthat, the target-side management NE may also notify the versioninformation thereof to the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE through the Context Request message in step 302. In specificimplementations, a field adapted to indicate the version information ofthe target-side management NE is extended in the Context Requestmessage, or an identity adapted to indicate the version information isadded in an existing field, or other indication methods are used.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit IE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NEmay also indicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner.For example, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 303, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aContext Response message to the target-side management NE, the ContextResponse message includes the context information.

In step 304, the target-side management NE sends a Context Ack messageto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Context Request message in step 302, thetarget-side management NE may also send the version information thereofto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE through theContext Ack message in step 304, and the specific sending process isidentical to that using the Context Request message, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 305, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate a bearer context.

In step 306, other RAU-related processes are executed.

In step 307, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe S-GW to delete the bearer.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEsends a delete bearer message carrying a control IE to the S-GW.

The S-GW deletes a bearer context thereof and releases the bearerresources according the delete bearer message.

After acquiring that the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE indicates that the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with the S-GW and does not support the ISRmechanism, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE carries acontrol IE in the delete bearer message sent to the S-GW, in which thecontrol IE is adapted to instruct the S-GW to delete the local bearer,and notify the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE todelete the bearer context thereof.

In step 308, the S-GW notifies the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to delete a bearer context.

In this embodiment, since the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE has acquired the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE from the target-side management NE through the GTPinformation, or the Context Request message in step 302, or the ContextAck message in step 304, the delete bearer message sent from theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE to the S-GW in step 307carries the control IE adapted to instruct the S-GW to notify theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE to delete the bearercontext thereof.

Since the S-GW stores control-plane information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW sends the delete bearermessage to the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEaccording to address information in the control-plane information, inwhich the delete bearer message is adapted to instruct the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE to delete the bearer context thereof.

After receiving the delete bearer message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the local bearer contextrelated to the UE.

In step 309, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 310, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEnotifies the S-GW to control the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to delete the bearer context thereof in an explicitmanner.

In the first embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE sends the delete bearer message to the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE according to the preset addressinformation therein. It can be noted that, in practical applications,the address information may be acquired by the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE in other manners. Two situations areintroduced in the following.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the resource release control method according toa fourth embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEinteracts with the S-GW to instruct the S-GW to send the addressinformation of the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE, andsends the delete bearer message to the corresponding original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE according to the acquired addressinformation.

The resource release control method according to the fourth embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 401, a UE sends an RAU Request message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

When the UE moves to the coverage of another MME or SGSN, the UE sendsan RAU Request message carrying a P-TMSI and a GUTI to the target-sidemanagement NE, so as to request to register with the target-sidemanagement NE.

In step 402, the target-side management NE sends a Context Requestmessage to an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the RAU Request message sent from the UE, thetarget-side management NE sends the Context Request message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, so as to request contextinformation.

In this embodiment, before step 402, the target-side management NEperforms protocol version detection with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, so that the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires a GTP version of thetarget-side management NE. If the GTP version is an old version such asGTP V0 or GTP V1, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires that the version information of the target-side management NEis a Pre-Rel-8 version, that is, the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism.In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the Pre-Rel-8 version istaken as an example for description; however, it can be understood that,in practical applications, the version information may also be otherversions that do not support interaction with the S-GW and do notsupport the ISR mechanism.

The situation where the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE bydetecting the GTP information is introduced above. It can be understoodthat, the target-side management NE may also notify the versioninformation thereof to the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE through the Context Request message in step 402. In specificimplementations, a field adapted to indicate the version information ofthe target-side management NE is extended in the Context Requestmessage, or an identity adapted to indicate the version information isadded in an existing field, or other indication methods are used.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(i.e. the target-side management NE does not support interaction withthe S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using an explicitIE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NE may alsoindicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner. Forexample, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 403, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aContext Response message to the target-side management NE to send thecontext information.

In step 404, the target-side management NE sends a Context Ack messageto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Context Request message in step 402, thetarget-side management NE may also send the version information thereofto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE through theContext Ack message in step 404, and the specific sending process isidentical to that using the Context Request message, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 405, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate a bearer context.

In step 406, other RAU-related processes are executed.

In step 407, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe S-GW to delete the bearer.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEsends a delete bearer message to the S-GW, in which the delete bearermessage carries an instruction adapted to instruct the S-GW to sendcontrol-plane information of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the delete bearer message sent from the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW deletes a bearer contextthereof and releases bearer resources.

The S-GW acquires the control-plane information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE stored therein, in which thecontrol-plane information includes address information, and carries thecontrol-plane information when sending a delete bearer response to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In step 408, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE to delete a bearercontext.

In this embodiment, since the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE has acquired the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE from the target-side management NE through the GTPinformation, or the Context Request message in step 402, or the ContextAck message in step 404, the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE can notify the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE todelete the bearer context thereof.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the address information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE from the delete bearer response sentfrom the S-GW.

In this case, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends adelete bearer message to the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE according to the acquired address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE. A cause value fordeleting the bearer being “the target-side management NE does notsupport the ISR mechanism” may be carried in the delete bearer message.

It can be noted that, step 408 may be executed at an appropriate timeafter the Context Ack message sent from the target-side management NE isreceived, for example, when a timer times out, that is, a next processis not triggered in a preset period of time after the Context Ackmessage is received.

After receiving the delete bearer message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the local bearer contextrelated to the UE.

In this embodiment, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEmay also notify the S-GW to delete the bearer.

It can be noted that, step 407 and step 408 may be implemented incombination, so as to delete the bearer context of the S-GW, andcompletely release the related bearer resources. For example, bearerresources may be allocated between the S-GW and the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, and likewise, bearer resources mayalso be allocated between the S-GW and the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE. If the delete bearer request in step407 only requests the S-GW to release the bearer resources between theS-GW and the original-side homogeneous-system management NE, theoriginal-side heterogeneous system can further notify the S-GW to deletethe bearer context and release the bearer resources between the S-GW andthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE in step 408. It canbe understood that, if no bearer resources are allocated between theS-GW and the original-side heterogeneous system, and the S-GW hasdeleted the bearer context thereof and released the bearer between theS-GW and the original-side homogeneous-system management NE according tothe instruction in step 407, the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE may not notify the S-GW to delete the bearer in step 408.

In step 409, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 410, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the address information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE through the S-GW, and thus can sendthe delete bearer message to the corresponding original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE according to the address information.It can be understood that, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE may also acquire the address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE from other NEs.Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, in the resource release controlmethod according to a fifth embodiment, the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires the address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE from an HSS.

The resource release control method according to the fifth embodimentparticularly includes the following steps.

In step 501, a UE sends an RAU Request message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

When the UE moves to the coverage of another MME or SGSN, the UE sendsan RAU Request message carrying a P-TMSI and a GUTI to the target-sidemanagement NE, so as to request to register with the target-sidemanagement NE.

In step 502, the target-side management NE sends a Context Requestmessage to an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

After receiving the RAU Request message sent from the UE, thetarget-side management NE sends the Context Request message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, so as to request contextinformation.

In this embodiment, before step 502, the target-side management NEperforms protocol version detection with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, so that the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE acquires a GTP version of thetarget-side management NE. If the GTP version is an old version such asGTP V0 or GTP V1, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires that the version information of the target-side management NEis a Pre-Rel-8 version, that is, the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism.In this embodiment and subsequent embodiments, the Pre-Rel-8 version istaken as an example for description; however, it can be understood that,in practical applications, the version information may also be otherversions that do not support interaction with the S-GW and do notsupport the ISR mechanism.

The situation where the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE bydetecting the GTP information is introduced above. It can be understoodthat, the target-side management NE may also notify the versioninformation thereof to the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE through the Context Request message in step 502. In specificimplementations, a field adapted to indicate the version information ofthe target-side management NE is extended in the Context Requestmessage, or an identity adapted to indicate the version information isadded in an existing field, or other indication methods are used.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit IE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NEmay also indicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner.For example, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 503, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aContext Response message to the target-side management NE, the ContextResponse message includes the context information.

In step 504, the target-side management NE sends a Context Ack messageto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Context Request message in step 502, thetarget-side management NE may also send the version information thereofto the original-side homogeneous-system management NE through theContext Ack message in step 504, and the specific sending process isidentical to that using the Context Request message, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 505, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate a bearer context.

In step 506, the target-side management NE sends an Update LocationRequest message to the HSS.

In this embodiment, in step 506, the target-side management NE sends theversion information of the target-side management NE to the HSS throughthe Update Location Request message. In a specific implementation, afield adapted to indicate the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE is extended in the Update Location Request message.

In step 507, the HSS sends a Cancel Location message to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, when the HSS acquires that the Update LocationRequest message carries the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE, the HSS is triggered to send control-plane information ofthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE. In a specificimplementation, a field adapted to store the control-plane information(including the address information) of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE is extended in the Cancel Locationmessage.

In addition to the above triggering method, the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE may also add a new interactionsignaling such as an ISR Information Request adapted to instruct the HSSto send the control-plane information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, so that after receiving thesignaling, the HSS acquires the control-plane information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE, and sends thecontrol-plane information of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE to the original-side homogeneous-system management NE bycarrying the control-plane information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE in an ISR Information Response.

In step 508, the HSS sends an Update Location Ack message to thetarget-side management NE.

In step 509, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe S-GW to delete the bearer.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEsends a delete bearer message to the S-GW, in which the delete bearermessage instructs the S-GW to delete the bearer thereof. It can be notedthat, in this embodiment, the operation that the S-GW deletes the bearerthereof refers to that the S-GW deletes a bearer context thereof andreleases bearer resources.

After receiving the delete bearer message sent from the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW deletes the bearer contextthereof and releases the bearer resources.

In step 510, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE notifiesthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE to delete a bearercontext.

In this embodiment, since the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE has acquired the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE from the target-side management NE through the GTPinformation, or the Context Request message in step 502, or the ContextAck message in step 504, the original-side homogeneous-system managementNE can notify the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE todelete the bearer context thereof.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the address information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE from the information sent from theHSS.

In this case, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends adelete bearer message to the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE according to the acquired address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE. A cause value fordeleting the bearer being “the target-side management NE does notsupport the ISR mechanism” may be carried in the delete bearer message.

It can be noted that, step 510 may be executed at an appropriate timeafter the Context Ack message sent from the target-side management NE isreceived, for example, when a timer times out, that is, a next processis not triggered in a preset period of time after the Context Ackmessage is received.

In step 511, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEdeletes a local bearer related to the UE.

After receiving the delete bearer message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the local bearer contextrelated to the UE.

In this embodiment, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEmay also notify the S-GW to delete the bearer context.

It can be noted that, step 509 and step 511 may be implemented incombination, so as to delete the bearer context of the S-GW, andcompletely release the related bearer resources. For example, bearerresources may be allocated between the S-GW and the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE, and likewise, bearer resources mayalso be allocated between the S-GW and the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE. If the delete bearer request in step509 only requests the S-GW to release the bearer resources between theS-GW and the original-side homogeneous-system management NE, theoriginal-side heterogeneous system can further notify the S-GW to deletethe bearer context and release the bearer resources between the S-GW andthe original-side heterogeneous-system management NE in step 511. It canbe understood that, if no bearer resources are allocated between theS-GW and the original-side heterogeneous system, and the S-GW hasdeleted the bearer context thereof and released the bearer between theS-GW and the original-side homogeneous-system management NE according tothe instruction in step 507, the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE may not notify the S-GW to delete the bearer in step 511.

In step 512, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 513, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the address information of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE through the HSS, and thus can sendthe delete bearer message to the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE.

In the above five embodiments, the RAU process is taken as an examplefor description; however, in practical applications, other processes mayalso be used. In the following, a HANDOVER process is taken as anexample for description. Referring to FIG. 6, in the resource releasecontrol method according to a sixth, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE acquires the version information ofthe target-side management NE, so that if the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE determines that the target-sidemanagement NE does not support interaction with the S-GW and does notsupport the ISR mechanism, the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE deletes the bearer context thereof.

The resource release control method according to the sixth embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 601, a Source eNodeB sends a Relocation Required to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE.

In step 602, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE sendsa Forward Relocation Request message to a target-side management NE.

In step 603, the target-side management NE sends a Relocation Request toa target radio network controller (RNC), so as to request the target RNCto allocate radio resources.

In step 604, the target-side management NE sends a Forward RelocationResponse message to the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE.

In this embodiment, the Forward Relocation Response message sent fromthe target-side management NE to the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE carries the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE. In a specific implementation, a field adapted to carrythe version information is extended in the Forward Relocation Responsemessage, or the version information is added in an existing field.

In step 605, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE sendsa Relocation Command message to the Source eNodeB.

In step 606, other Relocation-related processes are executed.

In step 607, after the Relocation is completed, the target-sidemanagement NE sends a Forward Relocation Complete message to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, in addition to sending the version information ofthe target-side management NE to the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE through the Forward Relocation Response message in step604, the target-side management NE may also send the version informationof the target-side management NE to the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE through the Forward RelocationComplete message in step 607, and the specific sending process isidentical to that in step 604.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit IE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NEmay also indicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner.For example, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 608, after receiving the message, the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE sends a Forward Relocation CompleteAcknowledge message to the target-side management NE.

In step 609, the target-side management NE sends a message to a P-GW toupdate bearer information.

In step 610, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEdeletes the bearer context.

In this embodiment, since the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE acquires the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE through step 604 or 607, and acquires that the versioninformation indicates that the target-side management NE does notsupport interaction with the S-GW and does not support the ISRmechanism, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE deletesthe local bearer context and notifies the S-GW to delete the localbearer, and after receiving the instruction of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, the S-GW deletes the bearer contextthereof and releases bearer resources.

In step 610, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE maydelete the bearer context at an appropriate time after receiving theForward Relocation Complete message sent from the target-side managementNE. For example, if a next process is not triggered by any message in apreset period of time after the Forward Relocation Complete message isreceived, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE deletesthe bearer context.

In this embodiment, the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE fromthe target-side management NE, and deletes the local bearer contextafter determining that the version information indicates that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

Another implementation under the HANDOVER process is introduced in thefollowing.

Referring to FIG. 7, in the resource release control method according toa seventh embodiment, the original-side homogeneous-system management NEacquires the version information of the target-side management NE, anddirectly sends the delete bearer message to the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, or sends the delete bearer messageto the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE through theS-GW.

The resource release control method according to the seventh embodimentincludes the following steps.

In step 701, a source RNC sends a Relocation Required to theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In step 702, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE sends aForward Relocation Request message to a target-side management NE.

In step 703, the target-side management NE sends a Relocation Request toa target RNC, so as to request the target RNC to allocate radioresources.

In step 704, the target-side management NE sends a Forward RelocationResponse message to the original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

In this embodiment, the Forward Relocation Response message sent fromthe target-side management NE to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE carries the version information of the target-sidemanagement NE. In a specific implementation, a field adapted to carrythe version information is extended in the Forward Relocation Responsemessage, or the version information is added in an existing field.

The above description relates to explicit indication, that is, thetarget-side management NE indicates the version information thereof(that is, the target-side management NE does not support interactionwith the S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism) by using anexplicit IE. It can be understood that, the target-side management NEmay also indicate the version information thereof in an implicit manner.For example, if the target-side management NE does not carry a “version”field in a signaling sent to the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE or the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,or a value in the field is null, it indicates by default that thetarget-side management NE does not support interaction with the S-GW anddoes not support the ISR mechanism.

In step 705, other Relocation-related processes are executed.

In step 706, a UE sends an RAU request to the target-side management NE.

In step 707, other RAU-related processes are executed.

In this embodiment, specifically, other RAU-related processes may bethat the target-side management NE interacts with an HSS to performlocation update, and the HSS interacts with the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE to cancel the registration of theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE with the HSS.

In steps 708 to 710, the bearer context of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE is deleted.

In this embodiment, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE sends a delete bearer message to the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE, and address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE may be preset in theoriginal-side homogeneous-system management NE, or acquired from theS-GW or the HSS. The specific acquisition process is similar to theacquisition process in the above embodiments, so the details will not bedescribed herein again.

In addition, the original-side homogeneous-system management NE may alsoinstruct the S-GW to delete the bearer context of the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE. The specific processing is similarto the instruction process in the above embodiments, so the details willnot be described herein again.

In step 711, the target-side management NE sends an RAU Accept messageto the UE.

In step 712, the UE sends an RAU Complete message to the target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE directly sends the delete bearer message to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE, or sends the deletebearer message to the original-side heterogeneous-system management NEthrough the S-GW.

In this embodiment, the S-GW can delete the local bearer, that is, candelete the bearer context thereof and release the bearer resources. Thespecific deletion process is similar to the deletion process in theabove embodiments, so the details will not be described herein again.

In the above embodiments, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, and determining that the version informationindicates that the target-side management NE does not interact with theS-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism, the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE or the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE deletes the bearer context of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE according to theversion information. Therefore, the embodiments enable deletion of thebearer context of the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE,even if the target-side management NE does not support interaction withthe S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

An embodiment of a communication system is introduced in the following.Referring to FIG. 8, the communication system includes an original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE 801 and an original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE 802.

The original-side homogeneous-system management NE 801 is configured todetermine version information of a target-side management NE when a UEactivating an ISR mechanism is handed over from an original-side networkto a target-side network, and configured to send a delete bearer messageif a determination result indicates that the target-side management NEdoes not interact with an S-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

The original-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802 is configuredto receive the delete bearer message, and delete a bearer contextthereof according to the delete bearer message.

In this embodiment, after acquiring the version information of thetarget-side management NE, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE 801 directly sends the delete bearer message to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802 according to thepreset address information of the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE 802, so that the original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE 802 can delete the local bearer context.

It can be understood that, the original-side homogeneous-systemmanagement NE 801 may also acquire the address information of theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802 through the S-GW oran HSS, and send the delete bearer message to the correspondingoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802 according to theacquired address information, so that the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE 802 can delete the local bearercontext.

In addition to directly sending the delete bearer message to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802, the original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE 801 may also send the delete bearermessage to the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802through the S-GW. In this case, this embodiment of the communicationsystem further includes an S-GW 803.

The S-GW 803 is configured to receive the delete bearer message sentfrom the original-side homogeneous-system management NE 801, delete abearer context thereof according to the delete bearer message, releasebearer resources, and send the delete bearer message to theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802.

Specifically, the delete bearer message received by the S-GW 803 fromthe original-side homogeneous-system management NE 801 further includesa control IE configured to instruct the S-GW 803 to notify theoriginal-side heterogeneous-system management NE 802 to delete thebearer context.

Referring to FIG. 9, a first embodiment of a mobility management NEincludes an acquisition unit 901, a determination unit 902, and a bearerdeletion control unit 903.

The acquisition unit 901 is configured to acquire version information ofa peer-end management NE.

The determination unit 902 is configured to determine whether theversion information of the peer-end management NE acquired by theacquisition unit 901 indicates that the peer-end management NE does notsupport interaction with an S-GW and does not support an ISR mechanism.

The bearer deletion control unit 903 is configured to execute a bearerdeletion process if a determination result of the determination unit 902is that the peer-end management NE does not support interaction with theS-GW and does not support the ISR mechanism.

In this embodiment, the peer-end management NE refers to a target-sidemanagement NE.

In this embodiment, the bearer deletion control unit 903 may beimplemented in two manners.

In a first manner, the bearer deletion control unit 903 includes anaddress acquisition unit 9031 and a deletion instruction unit 9032.

The address acquisition unit 9031 is configured to acquire addressinformation of an original-side heterogeneous-system management NE.

The deletion instruction unit 9032 is configured to send a delete bearermessage to the corresponding original-side heterogeneous-systemmanagement NE according to the version information and the addressinformation, in which the delete bearer message is configured toinstruct the original-side heterogeneous-system management NE to deletea bearer context of the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE.

In this manner, the mobility management NE may be an original-sidehomogeneous-system management NE.

In a second manner, the bearer deletion control unit 903 includes abearer deletion unit 9033.

The bearer deletion unit 9033 is configured to delete the bearer contextof the mobility management NE according to the version information.

In this manner, the mobility management NE may be an original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE.

The address acquisition unit 9031 in this embodiment includes at leastone of a first address acquisition unit 90311, a second addressacquisition unit 90312, and a third address acquisition unit 90313.

The first address acquisition unit 90311 is configured to acquire presetaddress information of the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE.

The second address acquisition unit 90312 is configured to acquire theaddress information of the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE from the S-GW.

The third address acquisition unit 90313 is configured to acquire theaddress information of the original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE from an HSS.

Referring to FIG. 10, a GW device according to an embodiment includes areceiving unit 1001, a deletion execution unit 1002, and a deletioncontrol unit 1003.

The receiving unit 1001 is configured to receive a delete bearer messagesent from an original-side homogeneous-system management NE.

The deletion execution unit 1002 is configured to delete a bearercontext of the GW device according to the delete bearer message, andrelease bearer resources.

The deletion control unit 1003 is configured to send the delete bearermessage to an original-side heterogeneous-system management NE, in whichthe delete bearer message is configured to instruct the original-sideheterogeneous-system management NE to delete a bearer context.

In this embodiment, the deletion execution unit 1002 is an optionalunit.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or a partof the steps in the method according to the embodiments may beimplemented by a program instructing relevant hardware. The program maybe stored in a computer readable storage medium. When the program isrun, the following steps are performed: acquiring version information ofa target-side management NE, when a UE activating an ISR mechanism ishanded over from an original-side network to a target-side network; anddeleting a bearer of an original-side heterogeneous-system managementNE, if the version information indicates that the target-side managementNE does not interact with an S-GW and does not support the ISRmechanism.

The storage medium may be a ROM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, orthe like.

The method, communication system, and device for resource releasecontrol according to the embodiments of present application aredescribed in detail above. It is understood that persons of ordinaryskill may make variations to the described embodiments with departingfrom the scope of the claims. Moreover, it is understood that the scopeof the claims is not limited to any particular embodiment, describedabove.

1. A serving general packet radio service (GPRS) supporting node (SGSN)capable of communicatively connect with a serving gateway (S-GW), theSGSN comprising: a receiver; and a controller communicatively connectwith the S-GW; wherein, when a user equipment (UE) with an idle modesignaling reduction (ISR) being activated moves from a first network toa second network, and in a case that the SGSN operates in the firstnetwork, the receiver is configured to obtain information that anotherSGSN operating in the second network does not support interaction withthe S-GW and does not support the ISR; and the controller is configuredto send a resource deletion message to delete bearer resources on amobility management entity (MME) operating in the first network.
 2. TheSGSN of claim 1, wherein the information that said another SGSNoperating in the second network does not support interaction with theS-GW and does not support the ISR is obtained from a context requestmessage received by the receiver from said another SGSN operating in thesecond network.
 3. The SGSN of claim 1, wherein the information thatsaid another SGSN operating in the second network does not supportinteraction with the S-GW and does not support the ISR is obtainedthrough a context acknowledge message received by the receiver from saidanother SGSN operating in the second SGSN.
 4. The SGSN of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to send the resource deletionmessage through the S-GW to delete the bearer resources on the MMEthrough the S-GW.
 5. The SGSN of claim 4, wherein the controller isconfigured to include indication information into the resource deletionmessage sent to the S-GW and wherein the indication information isconfigured to indicate the S-GW to delete the bearer resources on theMME.
 6. The SGSN of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured tosend the resource deletion message directly to the MME in accordancewith address information of the MME to instruct the MME to delete thebearer resources on the MME.
 7. A method for controlling resourcerelease, comprising: when a user equipment (UE) with an idle modesignaling reduction (ISR) being activated moves from a first network toa second network, obtaining, by a first serving general packet radioservice (GPRS) supporting node (SGSN) operating in the first network,information that a second SGSN operating in the second network does notsupport interaction with a serving gateway (S-GW) and does not supportthe ISR; sending, from the first SGSN, a resource deletion message todelete bearer resources on a mobility management entity (MME) operatingin the first network.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the informationthat the second SGSN does not support interaction with the S-GW and doesnot support the ISR is obtained through a context request messagereceived from the second SGSN.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein theinformation that the second SGSN does not support interaction with theS-GW and does not support the ISR is obtained through a contextacknowledge message received from the second SGSN.
 10. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the sending step includes sending, from the first SGSN,the resource deletion message to the S-GW to delete the bearer resourceson the MME through the S-GW.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein theresource deletion message includes indication information configured toindicate the S-GW to delete the bearer resources on the MME.
 12. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the sending step comprises: sending theresource deletion message from the first SGSN directly to the MME inaccordance with address information of the MME to instruct the MME todelete the bearer resources on the MME.
 13. The method of claim 7,wherein the second SGSN is a Gn/Gp SGSN.
 14. A communication system,comprising: a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) supportingnode (SGSN) capable of communicatively connection with a serving gateway(S-GW), wherein when a user equipment (UE) with an idle mode signalingreduction (ISR) being activated moves from a first network to a secondnetwork, the SGSN, when operates in the first network, is configured to:obtain information that another SGSN operating in the second networkdoes not support interaction with the S-GW and does not support the ISR;send a resource deletion message to delete bearer resources on amobility management entity (MME) operating in the first network.
 15. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the SGSN is configured to obtain theinformation that said another SGSN operating in the second network doesnot support interaction with the S-GW and does not support the ISRthrough a context request message received from said another SGSNoperating in the second network.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein theSGSN is configured to obtain the information that said another SGSNoperating in the second network does not support interaction with theS-GW and does not support the ISR through a context acknowledge messagereceived from said another SGSN operating in the second network.
 17. Thesystem of claim 14, wherein the SGSN is configured to send the resourcedeletion message to the S-GW to delete the bearer resources on the MMEthrough the S-GW.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the SGSN isconfigured to include indication information into the resource deletionmessage sent to the S-GW, wherein the indication information isconfigured to indicate the S-GW to delete the bearer resources on theMME.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the SGSN is configured to sendthe resource deletion message directly to the MME in accordance withaddress information of the MME to instruct the MME to delete the bearerresources thereof.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein said another SGSNoperating in the second network is a Gn/Gp SGSN.